Keiji Mutoh © vs Nobuhiko Takada – NJPW
IWGP Heavyweight Title Match
01/04/1996
It cannot be questioned that there are better matches that have graced the January 4th Tokyo Dome shows that have become an annual tradition in NJPW. This match is divisive, with a lot of the flack aimed at Keiji Mutoh. Where some see a heated contest that is the culmination of a storyline that had been bubbling over in 1995, others see a boring contest that is overlong for what it accomplishes and includes a lot of work that offers nothing in the overall scheme of the match.
What cannot be denied is that for just under twenty minutes, Keiji Mutoh and Nobuhiko Takada have the Tokyo Dome in the palm of their hands.
Takada and his UWFi invaders had been the scourge of NJPW throughout 1995, and this was his big opportunity to take the IWGP Heavyweight Title away from one of the stalwarts of NJPW at this time. Nothing could strike a bigger blow than a former New Japan Dojo trainee winning the belt for another promotion. Takada and Akira Maeda had invaded once before, in 1986, but during that invasion Takada spent more time aiming at the Junior Heavyweight and tag team division. Not this time.
With Mutoh (and the crowd) well aware of both Takada’s strikes and submissions, a lot of the early feeling out process seems to take this into account; Mutoh doesn’t seem to want to engage, and when he does, his head is often turned away to avoid the dangerous blows of Takada. The crowd are molten hot throughout. Even just a tease of a dragon screw by Mutoh off of a caught kick has them worked up into a frenzy.
The heat between these two factions is clear by the lack of a clean break early on by Mutoh, who chooses to slap Takada around the face instead. The first half of the contest mainly takes place on the mat, as both men jockey for position, with the crowd responding to any tease of Takada’s kneebar or cross arm scissors, as well as Mutoh’s figure four leglock. After a takedown, he locks in a kimura, almost transitioning into a cross armed scissors but Mutoh avoids.
Nothing is likely to break up a grappling contest quicker than multiple headbutts, but that is what Mutoh then blasts Takada with to a huge reaction from the crowd. Up until now, the contest has been firmly Takada’s style, so when Mutoh is finally able to drop a snap elbow, the crowd almost cannot contain itself. A rather awkward moonsault should be enough for Mutoh to pick up the win, but he tries to slap on a kimura of his own, wanting to break Takada’s arm, not just defeat him.
A mistake.
Heading back into Takada’s world allows him to regain his composure, and even slap on a kneebar which Mutoh escapes. The crowd go insane for the dragon screw that follows. Mutoh’s one big submission option is the figure four leglock, and each man trade the leglock and kneebar in the middle of the ring, shifting legs to battle for control. Mutoh, having missed his opportunity for the pinfall, manages to fight out of a crossarm scissors once, but after eating several stiff kicks to the chest, cannot fight out of a second attempt. With a verbal submission, we end up with a new IWGP Heavyweight Champion, much to the shock of the fans in attendance.
One of the arguments that is made is that Mutoh didn’t bring his A game because he knew he was losing. This also saw him protect his finisher, the moonsault, by not letting Takada kick out of it and heading the arm spot. That is certainly one way of looking at it. However, some choose to see Mutoh’s demeanour as part of the story, especially after the loss and the walk of shame takes him past many New Japan legends, including Shinya Hashimoto.
It would be Hashimoto who would wrestle the title back into the NJPW fold later in the year. More importantly, it would be this feud that sparked a nugget of an idea in the head of Eric Bischoff – by the end of the year, the NWO was born.
